


One Last Round

by TheFightingBull



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: "Would You Come to My Funeral", Character Death, Dialogue Generator Prompt, Established Relationship, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Trope Thursday, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:08:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24666625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFightingBull/pseuds/TheFightingBull
Summary: Our Writing Group's Trope Thursday was Truth or Dare with a dialogue prompt if we wanted of "Would you come to my funeral?"So here we have Cloud and Reno sharing a final moment.
Relationships: Reno/Cloud Strife
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	One Last Round

“Truth… or dare,” the young man coughed as blood splattered across his own lips and face. The crimson hue rivaled his own cherry red locks as his turquoise eyes kept losing their focus.

Cloud Strife felt tears run down his cheeks as he stared down at the Turk. “Reno…”

“Come on… one more round,” Reno wheezed as his chest stuttered. “Please…”

“Truth,” Cloud frowned, gripping the man’s finger-less gloved hands as tightly as he could.

Reno chuckled but a cough choked off the sound. The Turk gasped for air, his face pinched with pain. Cloud knew it wouldn’t be long, couldn’t be. He swallowed back his own tears, telling himself that this was nothing like it had been before with Zack. That he wasn’t losing his best friend.

Which was true. Zack Fair and Cloud had never been lovers…

“Would you… no, will you,” Reno pulled Cloud’s attention back to him. “Will you come to my funeral?”

The bloody smile painted across Reno’s face was meant to reassure Cloud. He knew that. He knew his Turk was trying to be brave, trying to make him believe that everything would be fine. Cloud knew Reno well enough to know that about him.

“Never,” Cloud forced a laugh, even though all he wanted to do was bury his head into Reno’s chest and cry. But he wouldn’t do that to Reno. He’d let the man descend from the world with his playful, sometimes mean and almost always dark, humor intact.

It was the least he could.

There would be no goodbyes for Reno. No declarations of love or deathbed confessions for the Turk that pretended he didn’t feel remorse for the sins of his past. He would brave death the same way he had life. With a sarcastic salute, a lopsided smirk, and some arrogant or snide comment tumbling out of his mouth.

“Rude… Rude’ll never forgive…”

“Don’t care,” Cloud kept up the banter, terrified of losing the only man who could make him laugh. “Truth or Dare, Reno.”

“Dare, yo,” Reno smirked.

“I dare you to live, Reno,” Cloud whispered, ignoring the tears gathering in his eyes. “I dare you to survive this fight.”

Reno tried to speak, but his face had lost all color and his breathing became labored as he struggled to oxygenate the blood that was likely spilling and pooling on the asphalt beneath him. Cloud had given him his last challenge and his last opportunity for defiance as he watched Reno still. It was how all their rounds of the simple game ended.

That final dare that everyone playing knew would be ignored just to say their own will won out in the end. That they didn’t cave to the demands or pressures of anyone else.


End file.
